Does a Virtual PO Box service appeal to you?

In today’s mobile society, people socialize, shop, work, and play anywhere and everywhere. Yet even as many aspects of communications and commerce have gone mobile, the physical address has remained static. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could direct your mail to meet you wherever you go? So, instead of going to your mailbox, your mailbox came to you.

In our recently released white paper “Virtual Post Office Boxes”, we consider a concept that would offer portability to your address, just like email and phone numbers. The Virtual Post Office (PO) Box gives customers control over where, when, and how they receive their mail and packages. Much like the venerable PO Box service, the Virtual PO Box would provide users with an alternate address instead of their residential address. Virtual PO Box customers could log into their www.usps.com accounts to link this address with any physical address, including a home or business address, a nearby Post Office, a physical PO Box locker, or even a gopost® parcel locker.

The paper suggests users could accept or redirect letters, flats, and parcels online or from their smart devices to an alternate address, a temporary address, or even a parcel locker in their desired location. Customers could receive immediate notification via email or text message when new mailpieces have arrived. They then could determine where they wanted them delivered. For example, a person on vacation may request that his or her packages be delivered to a nearby gopost parcel locker. In today’s increasingly digital and mobile world, the service would provide a “just in time” element to the flow of mail and give customers numerous options. They could choose from many delivery options, however, destruction of the mail would not be an option.

The capabilities and features of a Virtual PO Box could:

Give a physical dimension to email and smart devices by linking a customer’s email addresses to his or hers Virtual PO Box address and residential address for parcel fulfillment and other activities.
Validate the identity of users for merchants and in peer-to-peer sales, while concealing home addresses and personal information.
Allow foreign customers to shop online and provide merchants with a U.S. address for parcel delivery and returns.
Provide small businesses the ability to possess a vanity address and use the Virtual PO Box as a micro-warehouse.

Some challenges of a Virtual PO Box, range from operations and technical issues to preventing fraud in international shipments. The paper also contemplates some possible future enhancements and best ways to pursue the concept, such as partnering with companies that now provide similar services.

If offered, which services would you use? Would you be willing to pay more for premium services, such as international shipments and returns? Do you see any problems with offering or implementing such a service? Share your thoughts below.

Comments (155)

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I have an electric company that I run out of my home. I would love to have a PO Box listed as my mailing address so strangers do not have access to my home address. It would also save me the hassle of having to actually travel to the post office, thereby also saving the planet from excess C02 emissions. The USPS could market this as "going green"! This would be quite simple to implement: My PO Box could be "PO BOX 1404742" for my home address of 1404 Shxxxxx Dr., Bxxxxxx CA. "1404" is the home numerals. "7" is the telephone numeral for "S" which is the first letter of my street name, "4" is the second letter "H", and "2" is the first letter of my city "B". You could easily add some code to the existing sorting equipment software that each office uses every day. I'm sure it would be quite inexpensive to make this a reality and the income generated from this service would be quite profitable! I'd definitely pay up to $5 a month for a service like this.

Thanks a lot for this post. It’s very timely for me, How about Post Scan mail ? It will help a lot to make the right decision, if you can mention a list of details to pay attention to when selecting a parcel forwarding company.

I can't believe it's 2016 and the USPS offers no virtual PO box services. And if such a service is offered, a key part must be the scanning, online viewing and secure shredding of the physical mail, to believe otherwise is the definition of being a Luddite. You could offer this service on a per-mail or with a monthly subscription charge that would more than cover whatever you're making from the spammers now. As a business, we already pay $250/month for such a third party service. If the USPS offered this directly, businesses and private persons would be all over it!

Yes, please do this. I am very mobile. I move constantly because of my job. Having a physical P.O box limits me and also makes it a hassle to continuously establish and dis-establish P.O box accounts. I'm in the 18-35 age range and I believe this is the next "big thing" within the postal industry.

The world is progressively going digital and this will eventually change the face of our national postal service and products. Hundreds of thousands of postal workers who trust our government and pledge their allegence will be displaced. The time to implement a conversion that provides for an honorable transition from postal work into other civil opportunities is now, so that the process occurs gradually and no one is hurt. We don't need physical mail anymore. But we do need legal and fair virtual solutions to replace certain systems, if for no other reason that to contain deceptive practices. The virtual establishment filling the need now is not all that straight. In the age of mobile business and virtualization, I still need a legal presence in my business and holdings. I can do much to protect my domain ownerships just by registering these at legal addresses, for example. And I should not have to pay opportunism for non-utilized real estate holdings or exaggerated parcel costs. You can make a big difference out there just by establishing a strong social presence and doing the right thing solely because it is the right thing to do. Manage packaging both here and overseas with precision and dignity and pick up on all of the various trends conscienteously in honorable service, such as warehousing, with sincerity and true allegence to our American standards, and both customer and country will be indebted to you.

The world is progressively going digital and this will eventually change the face of our national postal service and products. Hundreds of thousands of postal workers who trust our government and pledge their allegence will be displaced. The time to implement a conversion that provides for an honorable transition from postal work into other civil opportunities is now, so that the process occurs gradually and no one is hurt. We don't need physical mail anymore. But we do need legal and fair virtual solutions to replace certain systems, if for no other reason that to contain deceptive practices. The virtual establishment filling the need now is not all that straight. In the age of mobile business and virtualization, I still need a legal presence in my business and holdings. I can do much to protect my domain ownerships just by registering these at legal addresses, for example. And I should not have to pay opportunism for non-utilized real estate holdings or exaggerated parcel costs. You can make a big difference out there just by establishing a strong social presence and doing the right thing solely because it is the right thing to do. Manage packaging both here and overseas with precision and dignity and pick up on all of the various trends conscienteously in honorable service, such as warehousing, with sincerity and true allegence to our American standards, and both customer and country will be indebted to you.

i am blind and i as well as the rest of the blind and visually impaired community would greatly appreciate a service like this so our mail can be read out loud by our computers just like email, this would be extremely helpful for many of us blind people who dont have a reader or assistamt to open and read ourmail, i would be definitely be willing to pay a premium for this service.

Even if was just implemented so all mail to the PO box was automatically forwarded to a physical address (that could periodically be changed) that would be great for the many non profit organizations that don't have a physical business address.

Please introduce this service ASAP it is great for a small home business where you don't want to use your address on invoices and credit card receipts and also don't want to have to go to the PO for mail pick up

Love this idea. I want one now. Couple questions. Can I use it at my doctors office? Can I use it on my Driver License? Can I use it when I call 911? Can I use it on a legal document? Can my address really just be a way to get to me rather than a way to get to where I live? If I'm looking at a VPO and I'm an emergency responder, I need to know its a VPO right away, not a PO, can we do that? Can I have multiple VPO's that point to me and mine? Can I have a private VPO that does not give access to where I live if I have a restraining order against another? Can I have one that lasts my lifetime? Can I get a new one if I have an identity problem with the old one? Can I have a temporary one for special occasions? Can my temporary one continue to point to me for life? Can I have a new one any time I want? Will it be a globally unique identifier? Can I assign/pick/choose my own? Is it possible to eliminate vanity from the system and assign them equally without prejudice? Do I get a kitchen sink with mine and have I asked enough questions? Have a great day all.

I use a virtual mailbox with a third party. If I could use a US PO box without a third party I would in a heartbeat. However, I travel internationally, and i do not see the USPS being able to cater to expats and frequent travelers. International shipping, third party (FedEx, UPS) acceptance, and signature packages I can see as a problem. Part of the reason I don't use a PO Box now is no one recognizes a "PO Box" as a physical address. Maybe distinguishing the service from regular "PO Box" to a different acronym like "DU- delivery unit" would help.

This is exactly why I am here, 1 I am very excited that USPS has caught up with the times and are more reliable and competitive in todays markets, 2 this is exactly why I am here, vanity address to support my micro warehouse. I'd be more than happy to participate in a beta project on this, let me know!

I wouldn't get one until they have a track record of delivering my mail and only my mail to my box. Or at least a 2:1 ratio of my mail to a stranger's mail. The current 1:5 ratio is a borderline upgrade to the next size -- and it's not even my mail. I'm going to let my physical PO box expire since after filling out the form and supplying names (only 2 business names) that will receive mail at my box, I still get other people's mail. Exploring other options now.

I notice that this topic came up in 2013, and still it hasn't been implemented. That is disappointing because I would really like to use this sort of service. The part that is most appealing to me is not having to disclose my home address to strangers, although the added advantage of not having to update my address with dozens of companies with whom I do business when I move is very appealing as well.

If I understand the service correctly...as a small, start-up business owner, I could have a P.O. Box that I could give to my clients and have the mail directed to my house. Thus, not disclosing my home address. Yes, this is fantastic! Please keep the price low. $15/month and a $120 a year if paid in one payment.

This would be a great option from USPS perspective as the mail is being handled in route. It would be a simple redirect to add this capability just like what is available for regular mail forwarding. There are services that already do this by scanning the mail, but I would be fine with a forward that lasts longer than 12 months. What would be a real value add over services already available would be:
1) Exclude bulk mail (this could be a paid for feature)
2) Pay annual fee for long term forwarding (I believe 12 months is currently free)
3) Pay for digital scanning and notification. In this feature, originals are maintained for x days before destruction.
Do it!

This service would finally be the cry of relief that the millions of OTR truck drivers desperately need. They are the forgotten ones. Many people have absolutely NO IDEA what they go through when it comes to mailing. If the postal service doesn't do it first, I'll have the next Twitter/Uber/Airbnb type business under my belt.

Yes, this would be a great service. And yes, I would pay extra for international shipping. However, the price should not be set at an outrageous amount given that this will likely appeal to start-up companies that may initially begin their operations in the own home on a shoestring budget.

I would love a Virtual PO Box Service especially one that could do forward internationally as I work in adult industry and many people I market for use aliases on their parcels from fan gifts. I'm disabled so going to a physical PO Box is not that convenient

PLEASE offer this service. I have been using other VPS services and would really prefer to do it directly with USPS. I would definitely pay a premium for the service. Absolutely. Please offer this yesterday!

Yes, I would love to have this service for my personal and business uses. Would make life very easy to have a virtual presence address and then be able to route that mail anywhere like to my home or where I am staying for an extended period.
I would even take it a step further and allow for mail digitization on parcels users select rather than delivering them. Some services do this privately and it would drastically reduce carbon footprint. The mailers could even print less if they know how many users are getting digital vs print and still pay the post office the 0.45 per piece to get it to the users.

If this is available, I would have get one without any reservation, and USPS do not need to make the space available for a virtual PO Box, and customer save trips to the Post Office. It is a win win situation, USPS only need to do a address translation for such address. Due to the limitation of Po Box provide, currently it appears that UPS mailbox fits my need better. Better innovate to help customer out with huge demand.

I hope USPS offer virtual PO box ASAP, currently I have PO box from USPS and I am thinking to change to UPS store or other company that offer virtual address PO Box, even better if USPS could deliver my mails to my home address.
If UPS and other mail service could do it, I believe USPS could do it too....
Please have this service ASAP so I do not need to change my PO BOX to other mail service, just change to VIRTUAL ADDRESS.... Thanks

Definitely. The reason this page appeared in my search results is that I am searching for a United States Postal Service Virtual P.O. Box with a street address. I have researched other providers of this service specifically because the USPS does not currently offer this service. I wish to have a street address associated with my P.O. Box address so that clients do not know where I live.

We have just been informed our post office in Pine Mountain Club Ca 93222 is being closed. We are a mountain community of 2,315 population. We have never had delivery and must go to our town PO. The...

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